Tsvangirai, Ncube agree election coalition deal Collaboration ... Party leaders meet after the proclamation of election dates 04/07/2013 00:00:00 by Staff Reporter Poll alliance agreement ... Welshman Ncube RELATED STORIES THE MDC formations led by Morgan Tsvangirai and Welshman Ncube are on Friday expected to confirm the formation of a grand coalition to challenge President Robert Mugabe and his Zanu PF party in the next elections. The development comes after the Constitutional Court rejected several appeals - two of which were filed by the MDCs - for the vote to be delayed and ruled that the elections would go ahead on July 31 as proclaimed by Mugabe. A top MDC-T official, keen to avoid jumping the gun before the official announcements, told NewZimbabwe Thursday night that “talks (were) not going well but ongoing”. Ncube’s MDC party has called a press conference at the Bulawayo Holiday Inn on Friday at which, sources close to the development insisted, the industry and commerce minister would confirm the effective re-union of the MDC after its acrimonious and damaging split in 2005. Elsewhere, the MDC-T’s launch of its own election campaign, initially scheduled for Saturday, has been moved to Sunday at Rudhaka Stadium in Marondera. NewZimbabwe understands that the alliance also includes Dumiso Dabengwa’s ZAPU with the former Zipra commander having been promised the defence portfolio should the coalition win the elections because of his links with the security services. Our sources also said that it has been agreed Tsvangirai would lead the alliance with Ncube set to become the first vice president and Tendai Biti the second VP if they manage to topple Mugabe and his Zanu PF party. Current MDC-T vice president Thokozani Khupe is said to have bitterly opposed the proposed arrangement, insisting she was elected by the party’s congress, but was allegedly overruled by Tsvangirai. “Tsvangirai feels more vulnerable than ever due to his love scandals, growing divisions in his own party and opinion polls that point to possible defeat in the elections, hence the alliance with one of his most visceral critics in Ncube,” said an observer clued into the negotiations. Early last month, the MDC-T leader said he was ready to work with his erstwhile colleague as he launches yet another bid to topple Mugabe after coming close in 2008 when he won the first round of the presidential ballot but pulled out of the run-off, accusing the Zanu PF leader of brutalising his supporters.
Posted on: Fri, 05 Jul 2013 09:16:31 +0000